"Sunagakure… are they insane? How dare they attack the Daimyo's people directly? Aren't they afraid of the consequences?"
A young ninja wearing a gray robe and a Konoha headband marked with a slash stood on the watchtower with a grim expression, watching the neatly arranged Suna army advance towards the Guardian's camp with imposing momentum.
"Now is not the time to discuss these matters. We must quickly arrange for personnel to defend. As long as we can withstand Suna's initial attack and prove our strength to the Daimyo, we will receive greater support later!"
Beside him, a samurai with a long sword on his back and a scar on his face revealed an excited expression instead.
"It's not that easy. It depends on how much importance Suna places on us and how much strength they've brought. If there are any overpowered combatants, it won't be so easy to defend!"
A rogue Iwagakure ninja said in a deep voice.
"Then it depends on Lord Tsurutani. Didn't they say he defeated Suna's Magnet Release Rasa? Maybe he can stop the Kazekage. If that's the case, maybe we can replace Sunagakure and become the overlord of the ninja world!"
On the other side, a fierce-looking monk said in a harsh voice.
"It wasn't a defeat, it was a kill. Master Nozawa, anyone who is hit by my father's explosive insects is sure to die, even those so-called Five Kage. I heard that Magnet Release Rasa was the Third Kazekage's disciple? I think it's precisely because of Rasa's death that the enraged Third Kazekage sent people to attack. I just don't know if he will come in person. If we can kill the Kazekage here, that would be perfect."
A young ninja wearing red clothes and a hat climbed onto the watchtower with a smile, saying to the others.
"Lord Shun, where is Mr. Hisaichi? Without him, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to stop Sunagakure's elite."
Konoha rogue Yuinoi Shuichi said to the red-clothed man.
Having come from Konoha and even served as a Special Jonin, he was well aware of the strength of a Five Great Shinobi Village.
Even their regular ninjas were of higher quality than those rogue ninjas and small ninja villages. The two Shinobi World Wars had made them very adept at large-scale military combat.
Sunagakure was a powerful ninja village that could compete with Konoha for the title of overlord of the ninja world. They couldn't possibly be a match for them on their own. They had to rely on Kage-level powerhouses to change the battlefield's landscape.
"My father is currently dispatching the ninjas in the camp to resist the Suna army. I'm here to ask for your assistance."
Tsurutani Shun replied with a smile.
He, who didn't yet have a clear understanding of the strength of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, felt that this battle was sure to be won.
Nearly a thousand Guardians, composed of rogue ninjas, defectors, and samurai, gathered in a chaotic manner, forming a simple formation with melee fighters in front and ranged fighters in the rear, preparing to meet the Suna ninjas' attack.
Shimizu and Pakura stood at the front of the crowd, with Kazakami Chiran beside them.
As a veteran elite Jonin of Sunagakure, who just turned thirty-three this year, he had fully experienced the Second Shinobi World War and had considerable command experience in this kind of medium-scale war involving thousands of people. He was the assistant that the Third Kazekage sent to Shimizu to serve as the vice commander.
Shimizu was responsible for the command of the battlefield, which was considered an opportunity for Shimizu to practice. Kazakami Chiran was there to fill in any gaps for Shimizu.
After all, Shimizu had never commanded a ninja battle of this scale before. Although he had experienced gang fights of several hundred people in the DC world, that was completely different from ninja battles. It could only provide Shimizu with some reference in terms of management, and its significance at the tactical level was not great.
Sunagakure was treating this battle as an opportunity for training.
A full 30% of these thousands of Suna ninjas were new-generation ninjas who had graduated in the past three or four years. They had not been on the battlefield, but they were all relatively excellent, so they were selected to participate in this war that Suna thought was not very risky—the risk was indeed very small compared to the wars with the other five great ninja villages.
The other 70% of the ninjas were all Chunin or higher-ranked ninjas who had experienced the Second Shinobi World War. There were also nearly a hundred Special Jonin and more than a dozen Jonin with rich experience. The mid-to-high-level combat power was more than three times that of the opponent.
Believing that Shimizu could restrain and defeat Tsurutani Hisaichi, this was a war without suspense.
"Wind Release Squad, prepare to clear the local defensive fortifications."
Estimating that the distance was almost right, Shimizu ordered.
Two rows of Suna ninjas composed of elite Wind Release ninjas stepped out, quickly forming hand seals. There were also three Jonin-level Wind Release ninjas who took down the Three-Star Fans they were carrying and performed ninjutsu together.
"Wind Release: Great Net!"
"Wind Release: Greater Net!"
Sunagakure's most skilled and most commonly used combined ninjutsu.
Shimizu, Pakura, and Kazakami Chiran, who were standing at the front, also performed this ninjutsu together.
They were also Wind Release ninjas. Pakura had now stepped into the threshold of the Kage level. Although Wind Release's power in her hands was not as good as Scorch Release, her Wind Release level was also among the best in the ninja world.
As for Shimizu, he was the host of this combined ninjutsu.
When it came to Wind Release, Shimizu's attainments had reached a point close to perfection. The massive amount of chakra combined with his ability to manipulate airflow doubled the power of this wave of combined ninjutsu.
The overwhelming wind nets were layered upon layer, already solidified to the point of being visible to the naked eye, quickly pushing forward, neatly cutting everything into pieces.
After a few Multi-Layered Nets, a large number of Guardian ninjas had already been injured or even killed.
"Earth Release Squad, clear the way. Puppet Masters and ranged combat units, prepare."
Shimizu looked at the battlefield in front and continued to order.
The Wind Release ninjas quickly took a step back, and the Earth Release ninjas, who had already prepared in advance according to the formation, quickly stepped forward, forming hand seals and slamming their hands on the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Rampart!"
"Earth Release: Great Earth Movement Core!"
The ground shattered, and earth walls rose up, blocking the few ninjutsu that had flown through the wind net in front.
At the same time, the road ahead began to rise at a relatively gentle slope, clearing out a small portion of the underground traps that the previous Wind Release might not have destroyed, and creating favorable terrain conditions for the Suna ninjas' next attack.
One after another, new-style puppets, under the control of the Puppet Masters, quickly flew over the earth slope and rushed into the Guardian's camp.
The Suna village's formation changed once again.
Ninjas skilled in ninjutsu, coordinated with puppet masters, used ranged ninjutsu to cover the puppets, while close-combat ninjas provided support for the former two.
This was almost the most classic combat squad configuration in the current Sand Village: a three-person team consisting of a puppet master, a close-combat ninja, and a turret-type ninjutsu ninja, with at most one versatile ninja for support.
Back then, Shimizu's team with Yekura and Maki was like this, but in the past, puppet master training was more difficult, and it was difficult to cultivate an excellent puppet master without enough talent or family background.
However, with the advent of the new puppetry, the entry requirements for puppetry have been greatly reduced, the lower limit of ordinary puppet masters has been raised, and the training cost of puppet masters has been reduced.
This has greatly increased the number of puppet masters in the Sand Village compared to three years ago, which has led to a surge in the number of teams with this configuration.
Puppets of various shapes, accompanied by flying kunai and ninjutsu, rushed into the enemy's formation.
In just the first two waves of frontal attacks, the Daimyo's Guardian Troops suffered heavy losses without even touching the Sand Village ninjas.
"Divert the Fourth Company, open a gap in the west in ten minutes, and give them a way to escape. Only when they have a way out will these people not resist desperately. Yekura, take the reserve team and hide on the outer west side, set up an ambush, and just keep chasing and killing them. Once they are exhausted, everything will naturally be easy to solve."
Shimizu glanced at the battlefield and said.
Surround the army but leave an opening; this is a strategy to attack the mind and exhaust the enemy.
These Guardian Troops have already suffered quite heavy casualties.
The Daimyo recruits people indiscriminately, as long as they have some strength. A considerable number of them are even weaker than the Sand Village genin, or even ninja students.
At least the ninja academies of the five major ninja villages will teach D-rank ninjutsu such as the Three Body Techniques, and will also impart the orthodox usage of ninja tools such as kunai and shuriken. Daily training also includes physical training and tactical drills.
One wrong move, one head, one shot, one inside, one appearance, one existence, one look!
Even just-graduated genin have far surpassed those wild ninjas who can only extract chakra and blindly ponder low-level, incomplete ninjutsu bought from the black market in terms of comprehensive quality.
And the latter accounts for the majority of wandering ninjas. Among the Guardian Troops, there are many who, when thrown onto the battlefield, cannot even play the role of cannon fodder, and will die in large numbers, affecting morale.
In close combat, the Sand Village army's formation seems sparse, but in fact, each area and each ninja are interconnected, minimizing the probability of being hit by large-scale ninjutsu while maximizing the power of each individual.
The Guardian Troops are barely able to resist, let alone counterattack or even defeat the Sand Village ninjas' formation.
And while ensuring the stability of the formation, the Sand Village army's advance efficiency is exceptionally high!
Shimizu did not go all out, but simply put out five puppets, watching quietly, occasionally manipulating the puppets to save some Sand Village ninjas who were accidentally in danger.
If he went all out, this training would be ineffective and would only become his personal stage show from beginning to end.
Anyway, the Sand Village is now at an absolute advantage.
As long as there is no super-standard power, the only ones who can contend with the armies of the five major ninja villages are themselves.
Decades ago, except for the Rain Village led by Hanzo, there has never been anyone who could make the armies of the five major ninja villages suffer.
A crushing defeat!
If the Guardian Troops want to stabilize the situation and retain the chance of victory, they must have a strong person who can change the course of the local battlefield like Hanzo!
"They're here!"
Shimizu, who was observing the battlefield, suddenly raised his head and looked towards the center of the Guardian Troops.
Countless invisible flying insects were surging towards the Sand Village.
"Wind Release: Air Current Dance."
Shimizu stretched out a finger forward lightly. In an instant, a strong wind surged, forming a wind wall and pushing forward, blocking the explosive flying insects.
"Strong wind release, but useless."
An old man in a brown robe walked slowly, surrounded by five young people in different colored clothes.
"Whether it's useful or not is not up to you to decide."
Feeling the chakra on the wind wall being quickly invaded by the explosive insects, Shimizu quietly withdrew the chakra and increased the intensity of the airflow manipulation.
At the same time, the Blue Jerboa, which had been standing beside him from the beginning, opened several switches on its body and threw freezing bombs into the sky, shooting out beams of flash freeze rays.
A solid ice wall replaced the wind wall, and several freezing bombs exploded beside Tsuru Tani Hisaichi, freezing a large area of the ground.
"This is… Ice Release? No, this ice has no chakra! The wind doesn't either!"
Tsuru Tani Hisaichi was stunned.
Forty years in seclusion, do ninjas now cast ninjutsu without chakra?
After practicing hard for most of my life, I finally achieved great success, but when I came out, you told me that times have changed?
Times haven't actually changed, it's just that this old man is unlucky.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A dragon-shaped flame crashed into the ice wall, blasting out large pieces of ice.
Accompanying it were explosive insects that had been fed with chakra, each of which was no smaller than the one Shimizu had extracted from Rosha's body before.
Since it can't devour chakra, then just detonate it directly!
The explosions were one after another, and the power was not small. Even the solid ice made with flash freeze coolant was overwhelmed and cracks appeared under the continuous attacks of a Kage-level powerhouse who was good at demolition.
"Sure enough, it's not that simple…"
Shimizu shook his head, but he wasn't too frustrated.
The freezing bombs and flash freeze rays released by the Blue Jerboa can restrain these explosive insect larvae that are invisible to the naked eye and difficult for ordinary ninjas to defend against, preventing them from causing large-scale casualties to the Sand Village ninjas, which is enough.
Next, it's his turn to get serious.
"Boom!"
The ice wall shattered, but in the next instant, a bright blue Chi dragon lunged over with bared fangs and claws.
"Departure Breathing: Land Form - Departure Dragon Night Dance!"
Tsuru Tani Hisaichi's eyes lit up.
This time, there is chakra!
It's just that as soon as those explosive insects came into contact with the chakra, they were burned to death by the high temperature attached to the Departure Release.
Tsuru Tani Hisaichi's expression turned gloomy again.
The quality of the chakra he's dealing with is very high, and it's an extremely special bloodline chakra that is difficult to invade and can only be achieved through breathing.
In this way, the effect of the larvae will be much worse, and with the other party's chakra quality, they will definitely be able to suppress it for a long time.
